By Tolga Yanik
ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's Bayraktar Akinci Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) on Saturday flied up to an altitude of 30,000 feet, staying in the air for 13 hours and 24 minutes with a total payload of 1,360 kilograms (2,998 pounds).
Developed indigenously by the defense firm Baykar under a project carried out with the leadership of Turkey's Defense Industries Presidency, Bayraktar Akinci UCAV is improving its capabilities step by step, said a statement by the company.
With a take-off weight of 6 tons, the combat drone displayed a strong performance with a payload close to full load and rose to an altitude of 30,000 feet.
Bayraktar Akinci UCAV on July 8 broke an altitude record in Turkish aviation history by climbing up to 38,039 feet in its flight that lasted 25 hours and 46 minutes.
Akinci, which has made 874 sorties in test and training flights so far, hit the targets with full accuracy in the firing test on July 5 with warhead ammunitions MAM-C, MAM-L, and MAM-T, indigenously developed by Turkey's rocket producer Roketsan.